Certain Realities

We have all been impacted by cultural tension in our environment. Pointing out where these cultural tensions existed has been one role of an artist.
Certain realities brought together seven such artists, dedicated to their practice of social investigation and cultural articulation.

The assembly of sculpture, painting, installation, and newly commissioned performances placed the artists voice, concerns, and anxieties at the centre of the conversation.

Barriers, impediments and thresholds presented as recurring motifs with Isadora Vaughan’s beeswax screens and mycelium colonies, Spence Messih’s poetic use of everyday materials, Tony Schwensen’s handcrafted prototypes for a Mexico / US border wall, and Anna Kristensen’s enigmatic photo realist paintings. A major work by Archie Moore took the simplest of marks – X – and ruminated on colonial history, violence and sovereignty.

Incorporated across the exhibition was a series of performance works, with Spence Messih and Tony Schwensen inviting community readings that amplified the concerns of their static works.

Dancer and choreographer Lizzie Thomson’s newly commissioned work considered dance’s fraught cultural history, and a commissioned five-part performance by Brian Fuata presented artwork as correspondence, the artist had sought connection with men in the Albury area, also named Brian. The exhibition concluded amidst the noise of the Archie Moore fronted art rock band, ∑gg√e|n.

Each artist’s work existed in pursuit of truth and understanding. This exhibition recognised the importance of their artistic labour and its ability to shape wider social efforts. With each artists’ contribution we were invited to contend with certain realities.